Quesnel Auditor looks into financial concerns by Morton/Thapar

At tomorrow's Quesnel City Council meeting - Ron Rasmussen, who is the Auditor of Record for both the Cariboo Regional District & the City of Quesnel Municipal Council, will report out on a formal financial complaint filed by Pat Morton (wife of former Quesnel Councillor Ron Paull) on March 5th of this year - read Ms. Morton's complaint here

The report was put together under the provisions of Section 172 of the Community Charter as follows:

Complaints to council or auditor about financial affairs

1) A person may complain in writing to the council or to the municipal auditor, if the person considers that

(a) a disbursement, expenditure, liability or other transaction is not authorized under this or another Act, or
(b) there has been a theft, misuse or other defalcation or irregularity in the funds, accounts, assets, liabilities and financial obligations of the municipality.

(2) If a complaint is made under subsection (1) to the council, the council must give notice of the matter to the municipal auditor.

(3) If a complaint is made under subsection (1) to the municipal auditor, the auditor must give notice of the matter to the council and must report to the council on the subject matter of the complaint.

According to the Quesnel City Staff report from Kari Bolton (read here) - Ms. Morton requests for information have cost Quesnel taxpayers' $8,767.50 plus HST.  City Staff are recommending that the report (Section 172 of the Charter) be received

Read Mr. Rasmussen's report here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).  Mr Rasmussen addressses Ms. Morton's complaints as she laid them out in her March 5th email to former Quesnel City Manager John Stecyk

The most damning part of Mr. Rasmussen's report was:

Item 8 - "Sept 3rd, 2010 Mayor Sjostrom and the previous manager spent over $200,000 city  taxpayer's money without getting approval of council.  Evidence is in the file.  Never happened before in my nine years on council" - Quesnel Councillor Sushil Thapar 

Response of Mr. Rasmussen -- City Management or myself could not find any instance of the spending of City funds in excess of $200,000 without the approval of Mayor/Council

Management believes that the allegation made by Councillor Thapar refers to the protracted and difficult negotiations between the CUPE bargaining unit and the City of Quesnel.  In order to complete an agreement that would result in significantly much less cost than would have been realized without the granting of the concessions that were ultimately given, the authorized bargaining committee for the City brought forward these concessions, subject to approval by Mayor/Council.  Mayor/Council approved the terms of the new collective agreement reached with CUPE 1050 on September 13, 2010 by In-Camera Resolution 2010-18-69

The allegations raised by Councillor Thapar that unauthorized spending by Mayor Sjostrom and the previous City Manager occured are very serious and could, in the event that the allegations are unproven, result in legal action being taken by either Mayor Sjostrom or the former City Manager.  However, should  the allegations be proven true, Section 110(d) of the Community Charter would apply (disqualification of Council member for using money contrary to the Local Government Act)

I request Councillor Thapar to provide me with evidence in support of his allegation with respect to the unauthorized spending

Conclusion:

Councillor Thapar has a very rocky road ahead for his unproven allegation of unauthorized spending by Mayor Sjostrom/John Stecyk.  One hopes that he just apologizes for this "misunderstanding" and decides to move on, but if Councillor Thapar sticks to his guns on this - I could see either Mayor Sjostrom or Mr. Stecyk or both going to court to protect their reputations.

Stay tuned - this item will get hot/explosive in the days and weeks ahead...

SBF